Friday, September 06, 2013

Julian Assange on Rand and Ron Paul & Libertarians in US electoral politics. By @treisiroon

“I can see
how [these positions] come from the same underlying Libertarian
principle. I think the world is often more complex and by taking a
principled, but sometimes simplistic position, you can end up
undermining the principle.” Julian Assange

By @treisiroon

At
a Google Hangout hosted by Our Say and Deakin University, Julian
Assange presented his thoughts on a number of issues. Among other
things, he was asked what he thought about politician Rand Paul in the
United States. His response is being misrepresented in social media and
articles. Here's what actually happened:

Julian
Assange declared himself an admirer of Rand and Ron Paul for their
principled position on defending Wikileaks and himself to Congress,
opposing drones and coming from a Libertarian tradition of non-violence.
He stated that the position of non-violence produces interesting
results, including "don't go invade a foreign country", "don't make
people join the military", "don't extort taxes from people", and
"similarly other aspects of non-violence in relation to abortion-that
they hold".

Some
people are choosing to interpret Assange's comments as blanket approval
of all of Ron and Rand Paul's positions. Note What Assange actually
said in the end of his comment:

"I
think that some of these positions that are held by Rand Paul- I can
see how they come from the same underlying Libertarian priniciple. I
think the world is often more complex and by taking a principled, but
sometimes simplistic position, you can end up undermining the principle.
The short term visions for the principle and the long term visions for
the principle- it's quite hard to meld these together."

Also
note that Julian Assange did not declare his own position on abortion.
He described Rand Paul's position in the context or as an outcome of the
non-violence value of the Libertarian tradition.

Julian Assange's actual quote regarding "Libertarian Party as the only hope"

24:50
Assange receives question on: How do you interpret swell in support for
Libertarians in US- how does it pertain to our future?

Assange:
"Nearly every Democrat in Congress has been co-opted by the Obama
administration or DC social networks. The economically successful part
of the Republican Party is often in bed with the war industry-
completely in bed. So, there's now an extreme centre in the United
States where the Democratic administration and a large chunk of the
Republican Party have come together and are pushing forward very fast in
a dangerous direction that compromises the future of US democracy. That
is not a conservative movement.

A conservative movement says to hold on
to what you've got, don't change what's working, be cautious about bold
changes to society. So, the Republican Party, insofar as it is coupled
together with the US war industry, is not a Conservative party at all
and the Libertarian aspect of the Republican Party is presently the only
useful political voice, really, in the US Congress. It will be the
driver that shifts the United States around. It's not going to come from
the Democrats. It's not going to come from Ralph Nader. It's not going
to come from the co-opted parts of the Republican Party. The only hope
as far as electoral politics is in the United States is presently the
Libertarian section of the Republican Party."

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